Integration Management Lessons Learned and Documents

In the typically dry language of the PMBOK: “The Project Integration Management Knowledge Area includes the processes and activities needed to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project activities within the Project Management Process Groups.”

What worked

1. Making a project charter organically. I did not follow a template, but created one from need (the way it should be). There were four sets of stakeholders: the beneficiaries, the non-profit group, the volunteers and the donors. The project charter, or at least its equivalent, is the project summary I made for primarily the prospective donors. Another “project charter” is the presentation I gave to students.
2. Project management plans. E.g., communications management plan.
3. Weekly project reporting to the non-profit leadership team. At certain points where I was a bit immersed in my day job, the reporting forced me to see where I was behind in the project.
4. Still to come (part of project closure): news-letter and video (for showing to the sponsors and for marketing for future workcamps)

What didn't work

1. I should have planned to manage the fundraising better. For instance, we could have asked for gifts in kind like transportation rather than just money. For projects like the workcamp, fundraising should be a section in itself in the management plans.
2. Some misses in project closure. E.g., volunteer satisfaction survey, lessons learned sessions with the volunteers and the non-profit leadership team. This should have been documented as part of the closure section of the integration management plan.
3. Preparing the team. I was not able to plan this well. This only turned out well because Paul, the director of Maynilad, took charge of this. Next time, how this is to be managed should be included in the management plans. I think this was very helpful in getting the team to mesh.

What I'll do next time

1. Plan out fundraising better
2. Plan out closure better
3. Plan out volunteer team preparation better

Documents

1. Project summary for donors
   
2. Kick-off presentation to students at the start of the project (hack job)
3. Another presentation to students at the latter half of the project
   
4. Communications management plan
5. A sample of the weekly report I gave to the major stakeholders
   

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